Cooking for Idiots
by ap gato
Summary: The gang decides to enroll in cooking class. As the class continues, romances and dramas arise. Can they survive this simple cooking class? Take the cast, add in original characters and a drop of desire. Mix well and serve. UPDATED
1. Cooking Class?

Gato: I have no idea how this is going to turn out, but we're going to try it anyway. I have most of the details worked out, but as is the case with all of my stories, I'm sure it will develop a mind of its own after a few chapters. This was originally going to be in script format, but this site tends to get mad at me when I do that. Then, they take my thirteen chapter long stories off and ban me.

Irie: Blabber, blabber, blabber. No on really cares. Now, hurry up with this so I can get back to Shadow Stations.

Gato: I thought you were Queen of Lint Land.

Irie: Yes, and I'm also princess of Shadow Stations. D'uh.

Gato: Yees. Anyhow, as I said in the summary, the Yu-Gi-Oh cast decides to enroll in cooking school for various reasons. It turns out to be much more than they bargained for while under the care of my original character. Romance, mayhem, drama and hilarity ensue. Oh, **THIS IS IMPORTANT**: yamis and hikaris appear as separate entities in this fic, and I will not be using all the characters. I've set their ages around 18 or 19, so first year university. This is set the summer before they enter university.

Irie: I, princess Irie of Shadow Stations, declare that gato only owns her original characters and the plot!

………………………………………

Yami and Yugi wandered through downtown Domino accompanied by Joey and Tristan. Every so often, Joey glanced into a store in search of a tall and scantily clad blonde. A phone call from Mai brought the group to the retail area of Domino. She demanded that they accompany her on a 'terribly important shopping trip'. She and Tea disappeared into the stores nearly an hour ago.

Tristan sighed. "This is getting ridiculous. We've been looking for an hour. There are almost fifty stores on this block alone. How are we going to find them?"

"We'll just have to keep looking," Yugi quipped. His constant enthusiasm began to annoy the group. They sighed.

"We've checked every shoe store. Every department and accessory store," Joey listed aloud. He muttered names of stores the four males visited in the past hour. Urban Behaviour, Aldo, Banana Republic and Sirens. The names caused the boys to shudder.

"Is there anywhere we haven't been?" Yami grumbled. He took a sip from his newly purchased coffee.

"Yes," Joey replied slowly. The boys turned to their blond friend, worried by his tone. "We haven't looked in La Senza, the lingerie store."

The three other boys gaped. Yami paled while Tristan spluttered. Finally, Yugi spoke, "Who is going to go in a check?"

"He is!" the others cried, their fingers pointed at one another. Yugi sighed.

"I'm the oldest," Tristan began, "so I shouldn't have…"

"No you're _not,_" Yami countered loudly. "_I'm_ the oldest! I'm over five thousand years old."

"Well, then you should have to go," Joey said.

"What? How does that work? Make Yugi go!" Yami declared.

"Huh?" Yugi frowned angrily. "I thought you were supposed to stick up for me, Yami. Thanks a lot."

"Why don't we draw straws?" Joey attempted.

"Or, we could just go in together," Tristan reasoned.

"Fine."

"Very well."

If you say so, man."

The four boys nodded in resolve and slowly entered La Senza. Brightly coloured, impractical bras and panties assailed their eyes. They boys found their gaze drawn to the half naked models on the walls. "Can I help you?" a soft voice asked. Joey turned to face a tall, willowy red-head. He spluttered several times in an attempt to form a sentence.

"Are you looking for gifts for your girlfriends?" a petite blonde questioned. She held an assortment of lacy bras in one hand.

"Oh, well, no…" Tristan stumbled over his words, distracted by the blonde's beauty and the bright pink bras.

"See, we don't, that is," Yugi endeavored to explain that the four boys were single.

"We don't have girlfriends," Joey blurted, finally able to use his mouth.

The blonde gave them a skeptical look and walked over to a bra display. The red-head frowned in confusion; her full lips formed a small pout. Tristan drooled.

"If you don't have girlfriends to buy lingerie for," the red-head began, "then why are you here?"

"We were just looking…"

"I'll handle this," Tristan muttered to Joey. He pushed his friend aside and began to flirt openly, and badly, with the tall girl. Joey rolled his eyes. "You see," Tristan began, "we heard that there was a convention of beautiful girls at La Senza today. I seewe heardright."

The red-headcocked an eyebrow in amusement. Joey and Yugi snickered at Tristan's discomfort. Yami snorted at the immature behaviour and walked further into the store, his eyes trained on the posters. Several girls congregated by a sale bin a few feet in front of Yami. They sifted through the designer bras in hopes of finding their size. One girl managed to pull several appropriate bras out of the bin and struggled out of the mass. Yami continued to wander forward and collided directly with the girl. His coffee spilled onto her shirt and his jeans.

"Crap," she muttered. "I'm sorry. I should have looked where I was going." She glanced at her white shirt only to see a large, coffee coloured stain.

Yami cursed himself for his stupidity. "No, it was my fault. I wasn't paying attention. Are you alright?" He studied the girl. Her long, dark curls currently hung in front of her face as she attempted to salvage her blouse.

"I'm fine." She pulled a sweater on over her now translucent shirt and smiled. "Don't worry about it."

Yami watched as the girl calmly paid. She laughed at something the blonde whispered. The curly haired girl walked to the door and smiled at Yami once more before she disappeared into the bright sunlight. Yami shook his head and returned his attention to Tristan and the slightly annoyed red-head.

"…So you see, the only way for me to win the bet is to kiss a beautiful girl. And you would have to be the most beautiful girl I've ever met."

"I see," she replied slowly. She regarded with Tristan with measured patience. The other boys knew Tristan should stop, but he remained oblivious.

"So, would you be willing to help me?" Tristan winked at the girl.

"He's dead," Joey whispered.

"Should we help him?" Yugi asked.

"Let's see what happens," Yami offered.

The girl smiled coyly. "Of course," she murmured. "Come here." Tristan leaned in eagerly. The girl gripped his shoulders and put her mouth by his ear. "There's something you should know," she whispered.

"What?" Tristan replied dreamily.

"I don't hook up with high school kids!" she cried indignantly. She released Tristan and stalked over to a pajama display. The three boys laughed hysterically as Tristan turned the same colour as the girl's hair.

"It's not funny," he muttered, rubbing his ear. "And I'll be starting university in a month. I'm not a high school kid anymore."

They continued to laugh until Tristan stalked out of the store in embarrassment.

"I can't believe you actually thought she was going to kiss you," Joey choked through his laughter.

"Wow, what a loser," Yami snorted.

"I am not!" Tristan cried angrily. "Besides, I saw you spill coffee all over that girl, Yami."

Yami's laughter ended immediately. "How could you have seen that? You were busy throwing your pathetic self at the saleslady."

"I glanced over and saw it happen. Looks like I'm not the only pathetic one!" Tristan crowed.

"Uh, what you did is slightly worse, Tristan," Yugi stated.

"Shut up," Tristan muttered.

"Hey, we never found Mai and Tea," Joey said.

"No kidding, genius," Tristan snapped.

"Does that mean we have to keep looking?" Yugi asked dejectedly. The three others groaned in response. They began to walk in the direction of City Hall. Tristan sulked while Joey snickered periodically.

"We're never going to find them," Yami sighed in exhaustion.

"Fifteen more minutes, then we go home," Joey compromised.

"You said that an hour ago!" Tristan exclaimed.

"Wheeler, Yugi!"

"Tristan, Yami!"

Two familiar voices caused the boys to look up. Mai and Tea ran to the boys from the direction of City Hall.

"Mai!" Joey cried happily. He went to embrace Mai, but she placed half a dozen shopping bags in his arms first.

"Miss me, Wheeler? It's good that we found you. I was getting tired of carrying all my stuff."

"Great to see you too, Mai," Joey muttered sarcastically.

"Where have you two been?" Tea demanded animatedly.

"Where have _we_ been?" Yami shouted. "Where have _you two_ been? We've been looking for two hours!"

"Well," Mai began, "first we went to Banana Republic and Tea bought a few things there. Then we hit Sirens and Guess. She insisted that we go to The Gap. Aldo was a must, and of course, La Senza…" Mai trailed off when she noticed a faint blush rise in Tristan's face. "What's wrong with Tristan?"

"He got shut down by a salesgirl at La Senza," Joey snickered.

"You tried to hit on a salesgirl?" Tea asked in disbelief.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Tristan attempted to explain.

"And she turned you down?" Mai laughed callously. "Wow, I would have paid money to have been there."

"Yeah, well Yami spilled coffee on some random girl!" Tristan cried.

"What?" Yami spluttered. "Stop bringing that up."

Mai shook her head, "We can't take the four of you anywhere."

"Well maybe if you two…"

"So why were the two of you at City Hall?" Yugi asked quickly. Tristan ended his comment and glared.

"Oh, that was Tea's idea," Mai said dismissively.

"It's a great idea, even if Mai doesn't agree," Tai stated defensively. "I signed us all up for cooking classes! It'll be a good way for us to spend our last month before we all head off to university."

"Tea, we're all going to the same school," Yami said slowly.

"Yes, I know." Tea frowned. "Don't mess with my logic!"

"Whatever you say, Tea." Joey rolled his eyes.

"When does it start?" Yugi asked.

"Tomorrow at one o'clock."

Joey groaned. Mai frowned at that blond boy. "What's the matter Wheeler? Too early for you?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I don't usually get up until at least three."

"Well, that's going to change!" Tea quipped enthusiastically. Everyone sighed.

…

"Cooking school?" Bakura gaped at his hikari. Ryou smiled sheepishly.

"The university said you needed an extracurricular activity in order to secure your admission. Besides, it could be fun…" Ryou trailed off at his yami's horrified expression.

"Fun? What could possibly be fun about a mundane, mortal activity?"

"It doesn't matter it you're happy with the choice or not, Bakura. You're going. The university was very kind to you and Yami by letting you come based solely on entrance exam marks. You said you wanted to go the university, and you will as long as you do this class."

Bakura muttered several curses. "I only enrolled in this university because the Pharaoh did, not because _I_ am in need of higher education."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "Well, whatever the reason, you still need an extracurricular activity. Cooking class starts tomorrow at one o'clock." Ryou quickly left the room as Bakura began to protest once more.

…

Kaiba paced around a large, sparse room. He ignored the black leather sofa and arm chair. A tall, middle aged man watched the billionaire's restless steps. Kaiba's firm buisiness-like voice echoed through the room as he recounted a dream. "I was alone. Completely alone this time, not even Mokuba was with me. And…I felt something. I'm not quite sure what it was. The darkness and lack of people made me uncomfortable."

"So you felt afraid and lonely." The man turned the question into a simple statement. Kaiba paused and turned his icy gaze to the seated man.

"Doctor Rasputin, I don't pay you to lecture me about emotions. I pay you to listen to me and keep my secrets."

Doctor Rasputin, a psychiatrist who specialized in anger management, saw Kaiba once a week. The icy teen's visits became regular nearly two months ago. Kaiba refused to tell anyone about his visits to a psychiatrist. Only Mokuba knew the secret. Doctor Rasputin sighed and stated, "You should take up a hobby, Seto."

Kaiba sat carefully. He despised the way his psychiatrist stated everything so firmly. He considered the comment. "I already have a hobby. I run Kaiba Corp."

"That isn't a hobby, Mr. Kaiba. Take up something fun, like a class."

Once again, Kaiba couldn't argue with the doctor. "What did you have in mind?" As Doctor Rasputin spoke, Kaiba retreated into his thoughts. _Why can't I argue with this man? No one used to be able to tell me what to do._

"That sounds good, doesn't it, Seto?"

Kaiba nodded vaguely.

"Very good. Cooking class it is."

Kaiba awoke abruptly from his reverie. "Cooking class? Are you insane?"

"It's a very good way to relieve stress, Seto." Doctor Rasputin narrowed his eyes and handed Kaiba a flyer. "This has the location on it. It starts tomorrow at one o'clock. I will call them to inform them you will attend."

"But…"

"I expect you to attend this class Kiaba. Is that clear?"

Kaiba glared at the doctor and left the room. _He's not afraid of me,_ Kaiba mused. _He's like a father._ Kaiba glanced down at the paper in his hands and cursed softly. Cooking class?

…

A curly-haired brunette entered her apartment. She peeled of her sweater and slowly made her way to her room.

"Sam!" a voice called out. The girl named Sam turned to see her petite roommate.

"Hey, Alysse."

"What on earth happened to your shirt? Is that a coffee stain? You are such a klutz. Why do I even let you out of the house?"

"I didn't spill it on myself," Sam replied with a small smile. "Some guy crashed into me at La Senza and spilled his coffee on me."

"He spilled his coffee on you? That's a strange way to flirt." Alysse giggle while Sam rolled her eyes.

"He wasn't flirting with me."

"Sure," Alysse replied sarcastically. "Wait, you went to La Senza? Let me see what you bought!"

Sam tossedthe shopping bag at her petite friend then disappeared into her room to change. Alysse rooted through the bag until her roommate emerged. Alysse shot Sam an incredulous look. "What?" Sam asked.

"Nothing for me?" She pouted slightly. Sam laughed at her roommate's typical 'only child behaviour'.

"Check at the bottom of the bag. There are a couple in there that are your size."

"Oh!" Alysse cried and dove into the bag once more. She pulled two bras from the bag and grinned. "Red satin! How pretty. And may I say, your pink and black bra is very interesting. Dressing to impress?"

"Impress?" Sam sunk into an arm chair. "Who on earth would I be trying to impress?"

"Maybe your mysterious, coffee spilling boy."

Sam laughed and threw a pillow at her roommate. "Grow up!"

"Hey, let's go clubbing tonight! A lot of guys go tonight," Alysse cried happily.

Sam groaned. "I have work tomorrow."

"Oh please, you don't start work until one o'clock. Just don't get drunk. Now go and get dressed! We're going clubbing!"

Sam obliged and changed into snug, black jeans and a sliver and black halter top. When she finished her make-up, she exited her room only to find Alysse entering the bathroom. The petite girl had on a black miniskirt and red tank top.

"Could you be any skankier?" Sam asked teasingly.

"I resent that," Alysse replied, sticking out her tongue. "We'll go as soon as I do my make-up. Get your shoes."

…

The club did indeed have a large population of boys. The two girls disappeared onto the dance floor and instantly found partners. However, Sam found herself looking for a tanned boy with spiky black and pink hair.

……………………………………

Gato: Okay, chapter one is done. I doubt that Yugi will be playing a large role in later chapters. Tristan will be comic relief. I'm not sure of the pairings yet, and I think I will introduce another original character in the next chapter. There just aren't enough girls in this show, and I can't bring myself to pair Tea with anyone. Mai will be paired with someone, though it pains me to do so.

Irie: You are such a baby. Wait, you mean you're actually going to pair **_them_**??

Gato: Yep.

Irie: Wow, you've grown up.

Gato: Knew it would happen sooner or later. Next chapter, I will give you some back story on Sam and Alysse. And more description. That's all for now, darlings.

Irie: REVIEW!! I, Princess Irie of Shadow Stations, demand that you REWVIEW!!

Gato: Oh boy…there's another one who needs therapy.


	2. Conincidences

Samantha Corona and Alysse Readen grew up together, though not in the traditional sense. Through a series of coincidences, they spent nearly all their lives together. At the age of two, they entered the same gymnastics class. Drawn together by the similarity of their hair, they played rather than listen and received time-outs together. Their parents made small talk while their daughters tumbled across the blue mats.

At the age of eight, once the girls tired of gymnastics, their mothers signed them up for horse-back riding. Though the parents did not speak and the girls remembered each other as 'my gymnastics friend', they met again in the stables. Once a week for four years, the pair tacked up, jumped, chatted and obtained reprimands for excessive talking. Their mothers spoke about the weather while the girls steered powerful animals toward progressively higher walls.

The girls lost touch until Samantha changed schools at the age of thirteen. She entered the Grade Nine homeroom at Citustill School for Girls and Alysse's laughter rang through the room. The pair took similar classes, skipped some to buy lunch and received detentions for talking in class.

The girls rarely separated and people often demanded, "Are the two of you sisters?"

"No," Alysse would reply swiftly.

"We don't even look alike," Samantha added.

To strangers, however, they held a strong resemblance. Both had dark curls, though Sam's curled tighter and possessed a darker chestnut shade. Alysse had blonde highlights in her loose, light curls. Samantha possessed a Spanish tan and build while a natural darkness covered Alysse's thing frame. Large brown eyes showed each of Sam's emotions and Alysse's tawny ones usually held a mischievous light.

A soon as school ended in June, the pair moved to downtown Domino in preparation for university. The girls wanted to go somewhere exotic for university but their parents refused. "You will get no work done if you are roommates and in England. The farthest you can go is downtown," they stated. Samantha and Alysse glared, but eventually agreed. They found a spacious three bedroom apartment in downtown and moved in as soon as summer began. They planned to attend University of Domino, Alysse for Business and Samantha for Teaching.

In the short time they spent in the apartment, many disasters had occurred. Alysse flooded the bathroom:

"_Crap, I got yoghurt on my shirt," the petite girl muttered._

"_Well, put it to soak," Sam suggested._

"_Fine. I'll take a shower then." Alysse wandered into the bathroom, dropped her shirt in the sink and turned on the faucet. She observed the way the water drained away since Sam lost the plug for the drain on their first day. She concluded to leave the faucet on while she showered in the hopes that it would soak her shirt thoroughly. _

_Half an hour later, Alysse stepped out of the shower into several centimeters of cold water. She gaped at the flooded bathroom and jumped forward to turn off the tap. Pulling a bathrobe on, she screamed, "Sam!"_

_Samantha ran to the door and nearly slipped on the water that seeped under the door and onto the hardwood hallway. "Alysse! What did you do!"_

"_It's not my fault!" the girl cried and pulled open the door. "How was I supposed to know the sink would overflow if I left it on?"_

_They bailed water out of the bathroom with dustpans for an hour._

Samantha set a cup of microwavable noodles on fire:

_I'm too lazy to make dinner," Sam stated._

"_I think we have some microwaveable stuff," Alysse muttered as she looked up from her bowl of ice cream. _

"_Cool." Sam grabbed the first cup she saw and scanned the instructions. She pulled the lid halfway, filled the cup with water and placed in the microwave. "I think I'm going to get a job, Alysse."_

_The thin girl snickered. "Sucker. What for?"_

"_Uh…to have money," Sam responded._

"_Yeah, right. That small point…Sam, what's going on in the microwave?"_

_Sam turned sharply, and noticed flickers and sparks in the microwave. She pulled open the door and stared, dumbfounded, at the flaming cup on the glass turntable. _

"_Nice job," Alysse called sarcastically. "Aren't you supposed to be the one who can cook? This totally makes up for me flooding the bathroom."_

_Sam hastily put out the flame and pulled the cup from the microwave. "Shut up. And, no – this is not nearly as bad as you flooding the bathroom."_

_The smoke from the charred noodles reached the smoke detector. The small object began its shrill, obnoxious ring._

"_Now it is," Alysse said smugly. _

And they got lost on the way to the mall:

"_Are you sure you know where you're going, Alysse?" _

"_Of course I…no, I really don't. I'm not even gonna lie."_

_Samantha sighed. "Wonderful."_

"_Hey, let's ask those boys if they know where a good club is!" Alysse suggested._

"_I though we were looking for the mall," Sam reminded with a laugh._

"_Eh. Mall, club, it's all the same to me!" _

Despite minor setbacks and disasters, the pair remained close and managed to fix any problem they encountered. And Alysse only flooded the bathroom on one other occasion.

…

Samantha's radio alarm pulled the tanned girl from her dreams and into a new Linkin Park song. She pulled the covers over her head in an attempt to block out the bright sunlight. The song continued – loud and incessant. Finally, Samantha sat up and reached for the snooze button on her alarm. The music ended and she started blearily ad the clock – 10:13. With a sigh and mutters about work and late nights, Sam stumbled into the bathroom. She stepped under the shower's steady warmth in hopes that it would wash the exhaustion from her body. Forty minutes later clean and clad in beige pants and a long, green shirt, Sam made her way to the kitchen. She poured some cereal and milk into a bowl and sat heavily at the table.

Alysse wandered into the kitchen in search of water to help with her hangover. She groaned a greeting to Samantha. The Hispanic laughed softly. "Hung over, are we?"

"Shut up, I hate you," Alysse mumbled. She took two Advil and cocooned herself in a thick blanket on the couch.

"Do you want something to eat?" Sam asked, half- concerned. Alysse grumbled loudly and pulled the blanket closer around her body.

Samantha rolled her eyes and cleaned her bowl. "How about more alcohol? I've heard that helps with hangovers."

"I hate you."

"You aren't very articulate," Sam teased.

Alysse poked her head out from under the blanket. "Don't you have a job to get to?"

Sam flinched at the prospect of two hours in front of inexperienced cooks with access to knives. She shoved her files of recipes into her bag and glanced at the clock. "Alright, Alysse, I'm off. Don't die while I'm gone."

"Bring a boy home!" the petite girl called.

"I'm going to work, not a bar," Sam replied.

"And?"

Samantha laughed. "Good-bye Alysse."

The door closed and within moments, Alysse fell asleep.

The brunette Hispanic walked through Domino, unknowingly retracing her mysterious, coffee boy's steps. She arrived at City Hall before noon. She signed in and set up her room several times in an attempt to quell her nerves. At a quarter to one, Samantha sat on her chair and waited.

…

Seto Kaiba glared at his sullen reflection. _Cooking class_, he scoffed. _What was Dr. Rasputin thinking?_

"Seto," Mokuba said as he entered the room, "are you ready? It's almost time for you to go."

"I know that," Kaiba replied, his voice as dismal as his expression.

"It could be fun, Seto," Mokuba implored.

"They why don't you do it?" Kaiba replied icily and stalked out of the house.

…

Yami and Yugi met their two friends a block from City Hall. Once again, the two girls remained absent from their group.

"Where are Mai and Tea?" Yami demanded.

"Mai called me," Joey began, "and said that she and Tai will meet us there."

"What? It's her fault that we're doing this stupid course in the first place," Tristan muttered.

"Technically, it was Tea's idea," Yugi reminded.

"Exactly," Joey agreed. "So leave Mai out of it."

Yami rolled his eyes. "Just because you have a…"

"We should go," Joey interrupted loudly. He shot a cold glare at Yami and led the way to City Hall.

…

"This is stupid," Bakura spat.

"Just give it a chance," Ryou responded patiently.

"It's going to be the longest two hours of me life."

"Don't be so pessimistic."

"This is shit," he cried. A mother covered her infant's ears and glared at the albinos as she passed.

"And you are an asshole, so shut up." Ryou's patience finally frayed and he stormed in the direction of City Hall.

…

Samantha watched the second hand tick languidly around the clock's numbered face. Five minutes before the hour, panic settled into her stomach once more. People should arrive soon.

The door opened and Samantha forced a confident smile to cover her terror. A tall, slender girl entered, he eyes focused on the ground. Her think, auburn hair sat in a snug knot at the nape of her neck. When she finally lifted her eyes, Samantha smiled, still forced. The girl's eyes held a mix of violet and blue.

"You're here for cooking class?" Samantha asked.

"Yes. My name is Sofia DeMarr. It is very nice to meet you, Miss."

"Just call me Samantha," said girl insisted. "You're only a year younger than me according to your info, so there's no need to be formal. Have a seat, Sofia."

The tall girl nodded and swiftly and took a seat in the centre of the room.

A tall, sullen brunet strode forcefully into the room. He glared around the space and sat before Samantha could recover from his sudden entrance. Four teens entered noisily. Samantha inhaled sharply as she recognized one – a tanned boy with spiky black hair. _Wonderful_, she thought dryly. _Exactly what I need._

The blond of the group paused halfway across the room and turned to the tall brunet. "Kaiba? What are you doing here, moneybags?"

"The same thing as you, mutt. Learning how to cook."

"Don't you have people to do that for you?" a shorter brunet asked. 'Moneybags' merely glared.

Sofia looked terrified at the prospect of so many boys; her expression worsened when two albino boys entered. They also recognized the tall brunet and joined in the loud conversation. Sofia sank into her seat. Lastly, two girls entered, involved in a discussion about fashion.

Samantha did a quick head count – all present. She cleared her throat; no change.

"Excuse me," she called. The group continued to talk.

"Excuse me!" Sam called louder, to no avail.

She decided to employ a tactic her mother used. Sam fell silent, leaned against her counter and cast a cold look about the room.

Within moments, everyone felt Sam's eyes on their back and hastily found a seat. Samantha retained her stern look and addressed her students. "We start at one o'clock, and while I have no objection to you conversing, I would appreciate it if you would quiet down at said time." Sam impulsively smiled at their startled expressions. "That being said, don't worry – I'm not a strict teacher, at all. Welcome to what I like to call Cooking 101. My name is Samantha Corona and feel free to just call me Samantha. I will be seeing all of you for two hours, three times a week until the end of August.

"In terms of cooking, I feel that actually doing it is the best way to learn. And, I am a believed that everyone can cook, so I won't tolerate quitters. All I ask is that you try. Are there any questions?"

"Are we going to get dirty?" the blonde girl asked.

"Yes," Sam replied. She studied the girl and heard Alysse's voice scream insults in her mind. Sam smiled and grabbed her attendance sheet. "I'm going to do attendance, so please answer when I call your name. Sofia is here. Ryou?"

"Present," an english accented voice called. Sam noted the speaker as one of the albinos.

"Bakura?"

"Yeah," the other albino called lazily.

Samantha cocked an eyebrow and continued. "Tea?"

"I'm here," the brunette girl said in a perky voice.

The Hispanic shuddered. "Mai?"

"Yes?" the revealing blonde replied.

"Yugi?"

"Hi." A short boy with violet eyes waved.

"Hey. Yami?"

"Here," the boy from the coffee incident said quietly. Samantha made a mental note of his name.

"Joey?"

"Right 'ere," the blond boy replied, his eyes fixed on the left side of the room. Sam followed his gaze and saw Mai, bored and vapid. She smiled.

"And, Tristan."

"Here. And did you know that there is a beer with your last name?"

"I did indeed."

"You did not call me," the sullen brunette muttered. "Does that mean I can leave?"

"No, it does not, and what is your name?" Sam asked. _Tall, thin and a jackass – Alysse would love him_, she mused.

Kaiba attempted to hide the surprise that this municipal worker did not recognize his face. "Seto Kaiba. As in the Seto Kaiba who owns Kaiba Corp."

Samantha's expression remained unimpressed. "Nice to meet you Seto. Now, I have very few rules. You've already heard one. Three others are: wash your hands before you start cooking, clean up when you are done, and no stabbing each other. Understood?"

"Is the stabbing rule enforced _all_ the time?" Kaiba asked.

"It is while you are in my classroom. Once you leave though, go nuts."

Several people laughed at Samantha's comment. The Hispanic relaxed slightly. "Alright, let's get started. Splint into pairs, wash your hands and then come up and get a recipe. You have two minutes. Go."

The room exploded into chaos.

"Oy vey," Samantha muttered.

…

Alysse pulled the remote control off the side table with as little effort as possible. She flipped through the channels and paused when an attractive, angry brunet flashed on the screen.

"Well no here's something worth watching," Alysse mused aloud.

The balding interviewer turned to the young man. "So, Mr. Kaiba, how dies it feel being the richest man in Domino?"

"It feels like it always has." Kaiba's tone held impatience. Alysse drooled while the interviewer addressed the topic of charities. Kaiba's dry laugh caught Alysse's attention again.

"I pulled myself up from nothing," he said venomously. "No one helped me, so what obligation should I feel to help others?"

Alysse sighed dreamily.

…

After several minutes of turmoil which ended when Bakura hit Ryou with a bowl while Sam searched for a recipe, the group chose partners. Yami and Yugi came forward and while Yami searched for words, Yugi collected a recipe. Tristan and Joey already managed to spill something and the two girls continued their gossip.

Kaiba grumbled orders in Bakura's direction and the albino retaliated with threats to set the billionaire's hair on fire.

Ryou and Sofia maintained a shy silence.

Finally, everyone gathered their ingredients and fell prey once again to Sam's look. She grinned at the silence. "As you can see from your recipes, we're making Peanut Butter – Oatmeal – Chocolate Chip cookies. Just follow the directions very carefully. I will be making them up here as well, so you can watch me if you get confused. I'll also walk around to make sure everything is going well."

Samantha gave them a quick lesson on the difference between drop cookies – the kind they would make – shaped cookies and refrigerator cookies. Once her students had a general understanding of these topics, she began her baking.

"The first instruction is to cream together the butter and the sugar. Make sure your butter is at room temperature."

Sam put the required amounts of the ingredients in the mixer, turned it on, and walked around the room. Tristan accepted Joey's dare and ate some butter before they dumped it in the mix. Samantha laughed.

"I'm not toughing that. It might clog my pores."

Tea sighed. "Fine, Mai. Measure out the sugar then."

"You're doing it wrong," Bakura muttered.

"I am not," Kaiba spat.

"Yes, you are."

"Why are you even here?" Kaiba demanded.

"Why are _you_ here?"

Kaiba flinched as Sam passed and gave their empty mixer a quizzical look.

"What are you, a parrot?" Kaiba demanded. "Just put the stuff in the mixer."

"Your name is Sofia?" Ryou asked quietly as he turned on the mixer.

The auburn haired girl started. "Oh, yes. I'm afraid I didn't catch your name."

"It's Ryou. Sofia is a very pretty name."

Said girl flushed and changed the subject. "Is Bakura your brother?"

Ryou glanced at his yami and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, something like that."

"Yami, focus! You have to take the wrapper of the butter first!" Yugi cried softly.

"What? Oh yeah. My bad." Yami peeled the silver wrapper from the fatty ingredient.

"Are you okay, Yami?" Yugi asked.

"I'm fine. Just, a bit distracted. Don't you recognize the girl?"

"Our teacher? No."

Yami sighed. "She's the girl from LaSenza."

"Oh! I get it. Well, I'm sure she…wait, Yami, put the butter in the mixer, not the wrapper!"

With minimal mishaps, the group finally reached the time to add dry ingredients to their cookies.

"Okay," Sam began, "the important thing to remember is not to dump it in all at once while the beater is going or else…"

A shout from Tristan's table along with a cloud of white flour interrupted Sam. Joey and Tristan hastily wiped flour off their faces.

"Or else that will happen," Sam said with a laugh. "Are you guys okay?"

Joey hastily wiped flour off his face, but it clung to he eyebrows and hair. Tristan appeared too stunned to react.

"So, don't imitate the idiots," Kaiba announced dryly. Sam fought the urge to join in her class' laughter; even Sofia grinned.

"Okay, that's enough," the instructor called over the mirth. "Let's finish up and get these cookies in the oven."

…

Alysse glanced at the clock and rolled off the couch. Sam's class finished in half and hour and Alysse planned to meet her roommate and convince her to go shopping. The interview with Seto Kaiba finished and as Alysse dressed, she thought about the sullen teen. He lived in Domino – the interviewer gave out that piece of information. A plan formed in Alysse's active imagination. Now, she merely had to convince Sam.

…

Two trays of burnt cookies and four perfect ones left the ovens. Tristan and Joey celebrated that they didn't burn down the building. Kaiba glared at the charred morsels and tried to think of a way to hide his failure from Samantha. Surprised by this thought, he quickly replaced his disappointment with resent.

Tea gushed over her perfect cookies; Mai maintained a bored expression.

"Well done, everyone."

"Well done can only refer to the level that our cookies were cooked to," Bakura drawled. "Kaiba burnt ours."

"I did _not_," Kaiba retaliated. "You did!"

"It doesn't matter," Samantha interrupted firmly. "Joey and Tristan burnt theirs and you don't see them fighting. Are the cookies edible?"

"I don't…" Bakura began.

"As long as they are edible and nothing exploded, you did well. Once this session is over, you will learn to tell when baked goods are done. Divvy up your cookies and wash up. If want any of my cookies, help yourselves."

Ryou counted out half the cookies and wrapped them up fro Sofia.

"Here you are, Sofia. Thanks for all your help."

Sofia flushed once again and awkwardly too the cookies. "It was fun. Maybe we'll be able to work together again in the future."

The students loaded their dirty supplies into the dishwasher and wiped down their counters. Sam turned on said appliances and faced her class once more.

"Did you enjoy yourselves today?" Sam asked.

"Yes," came the general reply.

"I'm glad. Next time, we're making pizza from scratch and a salad to go along with it. Thanks guys – see you later."

Sofia left swiftly, dropping her cookies into a garbage can. The other tens wandered out with calls of 'thanks' and 'later'.

Samantha carefully cleared off her desk and packed her bag.

"Samantha?"

The Hispanic looked up quickly and saw Yami in the doorway. She swallowed her surprise and smiled.

"Hey, Yami. What's up?"

"I, uhh," Yami paused and attempted to ignore unfamiliar nerves. "I just wanted to apologize properly for the coffee thing yesterday."

"Don't worry about it," Sam assured. "It was my fault too."

Yami had a brief internal discussion and asked, "Just to make it up to you, hoe about I take you out for coffee?"

"And it'll stay in the cup?" Sam joked.

"I won't make any promises," Yami returned. "So, is that a yes?"

"Sure." Sam grinned. "How about after next class?"

"Great, see you then." Yami smiled and met Yugi outside City Hall.

Alysse walked briskly toward City Hall, late by nature. As she waited for a light to change, a tall brunet caught her attention. She removed her sunglasses and stared.

"No way," Alysse muttered. "It can't be."

She stepped forward to follow the teen with her eyes and shrieked when a car honked loudly. The driver glared and Alysse grinned widely in reply. She continued on her way to City Hall. She passed through the glass, double doors and a tanned boy walked past with a large grin.

"Alysse?"

"Sam!" The shorter girl cried. "I'm in love!"

"No, you aren't," Sam said reasonably.

"Yes I…okay, you're probably right. But, I'm in like."

"Tell me on the way home."

"You mean on the way to La Senza," Alysse reminded.

"Oh yeah." Sam sighed. "Fine, tell me on the way to La Senza."

The pair exited the building and walked toward the lingerie store.

"So, who is this boy you are in like with?" Sam prompted.

"Okay, so I was watching TV and there was nothing good on, so I was channel surfing…oh my god, it was beautiful."

"You're lucky I understand you," Sam said with a laugh. "Okay, so what guy was on TV?"

"There was the _hot_ billionaire. Tall, skinny, brunet…"

"A jackass?"

"No!" Alysse proclaimed. "I'm sure he's just misunderstood."

"What was his name?"

"Give me a second…Kaiba! Seto Kaiba! And I think I saw him downtown today."

"No way!" Sam stopped and stared at her friend.

"I _know!_ Who would think I would see him around?"

"Alysse, he's in my cooking class."

"Oh my god." Alysse made a sound similar to a squeak. "This makes my plan so much easier."

"Plan?" Sam asked. She faced Alysse once again. "What plan…oh no. I know what you are thinking and _no_."

"Come on, it'll be fun. Here's what we do…"

………………………………………

Gato: A mini cliffhanger. Okay, so not really a cliffhanger, but whatever. And yes, I do realize it has been an age since I last updated. But, anyone who has read my stories before knows that I procrastinate. But, anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this most recent installment.

Irie: REVIEW!


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